Dai

Brew

"Welcome Everyone! Welcome to my humble shop. I'm glad to serve all your needs as always. What a beautiful day ma'am, would you like to restock your supply of pots before hitting the stinky dun? What about you sir? You can try one of our experimental love potions, score some points with the lady.." My voice was as excited as a child with a candy. I'm pretty used to this by now really, luring customers with sweet talks and great deals. Thousands of eyes a day, some window shop, many purchase fair amounts of supplies. This area wasn't half bad, but it's nothing compared to the luxurious streets of Marronia of course.

"Just for today fine sir, all mana pots are half price!" Their desires are the same though, people are all almost identical. Their cravings for victory and glory drives them to pour their gold into my hands. This is pretty much how it's been, how it'll continue to be. The city itself, Castlia, encourages adventure, thanks to Lord Malik's premium dungeon just outside its walls, they never run out of ways to die...

I stepped out of the shop.. or rather, kiosk, to enjoy a bit of fresh air. The sky was relatively clear, the market street was busy today. Looks like the upcoming guilds' cup is going to be big this year. I turned to enter my kiosk again, it wasn't too big. It was enough for me to setup my brewing station with two ovens and several coal pots. I had a comfy chair to sit, a chest with drawers where i kept my ingredients. As soon as i sat down, a shadow blocked my view of the street. I rushed to my feet, welcoming him to the shop "Welcome dear customer! How can i help yo.. Oh, it's you.." I couldn't stay excited as i saw that slime with his see-through green body and crazy three eyes looking at different directions. One of them was focused on me though, his heavy voice found its way to me "Yeah, sure. Get me five stamina pots" his jelly hands threw a single 20 note on my counter. I held it in my hands, feeling happy. "Thank you for your generosity my dear custo..." he coughed and interrupted me angerily "8 for the pots, the rest is for my guildmates who are coming over in a bit. They'll use the rest of this and pay the difference as well" i almost hit him in the face, or whatever he has that represented a face. I threw the note into the drawer and pulled the potions out of storage, wrapping them in leather and finally filling a bag with them before handing it out to the cheap bastard.

"Have a nice day!" I waved at him as he left quickly, "cheap slimy goo!" I mumbled.
I took a deep breath, let it out slowly while sitting in my comfy chair again. Some customers are wonderful, they stock their whole guild with supplies several times a month. Others.. well, like this guy goo, tend to be cheap and refuse to participate in their guild's shared bank, instead, they form smaller teams and begin sharing loot and gathering supplies on their own.

"Hey there Barry, how's it going?" A voice asked me, i smiled seeing that old tough built man. "Hey Coi, things are good! Here for business or pleasure?" I laughed along with him, Coi was a heartsmith, one of the best here. He handed me a piece of paper, i held it, skimmed through it quickly. He seemed amused with my reaction, my eyes were open wide, i breathed slowly as i focused more. "Is this even possible? This year's guilds cup is aiming for the dungeon grand?" I asked, he nodded and took the paper back "It's Lord Malik's direct orders, they say people are going missing beyond the 10th level. This sounds fun, too bad you're no longer into this kind of thing anymore" he was teasing me. I shrugged and offered him some brewed juice, he took it and laughed as he walked away "Good luck with your business Barry"

The dungeon grand.. Malik's orders? Now.that's fishy, even for him.

"Excuse me" a voice appeared almost out of nowhere "We'd like to have the rosalinda tear" i was startled, the fact that i didn't feel them approaching was weird enough. Two people stood before me, one was very huge and wore heavy purple armor, the other was short and wore a rope. The smaller one was a girl with short hair, narrow eyes covered by thick glasses and her hands were leaning over the counter, tapping rapidly with her fingers.

"um.. welcome customers!" My inner salesman spoke first, but the i realized what they were asking for. "The rosalinda tear? That's S-class.. do you.. have the gold for it?" I asked, she smiled and looked at her larger companion whom nodded and handed me a medium pouch, it was rather heavy. Good, they have the gold. "You can add the change from our guild mate, that should cover it..." the small girl added.

I smiled, pulled out my premium bag, it had the best ingredients i had. I began cutting and crunching the ingredients one by one, pouring the thick syrups into the brewing pot. They watched me closely, amazed by my skill level, my hands were delicate, my talent was beyond all others. It was thanks to my passion back in the day...

A faint smell of molten caramel-like aroma filled the air, dipping a small spoon into the thick potion, i tasted it with the tip of my tongue.. sour, unlike what's suggested by the smell. This is good, top notch. I finalized the process and poured it into a paper wrap, it solidified as soon as it began to cool in air.

"There you go... your order is..." i was turning around to hand them the rosalinda tear, but all i saw was after images.. the hand snatching what was in my hand, the pouch of gold disappearing, i was staring at the back of the two running away from my shop...

Oh no you didn't!

I started running as fast as i could, wondering.. how can that thing run in such a huge piece if armor? They were practically riding the wind and making their way through the relatively crowded streets. People were watching us, laughing at the armor running before them. I was already panting, it's been too long since i ran like this.. out of shape, these two must be one of the guilds' scouts. I wasn't intending on calling anyone around us for help, the last thing i wanted was someone else stealing the tear while we're in the middle of the commotion.

They finally entered one of the narrower alleys, it was a place for the homeless to hangout. I saw the startled homeless people on each side, that running armor was indeed ridiculous. Soon after entering the rather dimmed alley, i saw the little girl standing still, raising both hands in the air, she had a piece of paper that had a sketch of me at a younger age. She smiled, finally speaking to me "Barry, your reputation in brewing top notch potions is very true.. and for that, i want you to join my guild" her words and tone were way out of her age. It was weird for me to see that short girl talking in that manner. Looks like this was a stunt to have me in her guild... "No way, don't you know that i retired? Like.. years ago? I'm never joining any guilds, only service you with my..." i couldn't completely complete the sentence, i hardly caught it, but it was impossible to miss once that huge shadow came as close as it was from the back right side, i should've paid more attention..

A huge metallic sound rang and bounced off the wet walls of the alley. It was the sound of an oversized hammer that struck against my elbow as i blocked it, stopping my attacker in place. The ground bellow me was broken down, my entire body stood tall but the shear force pushed it down against the weak floor. "Am i that rusty? Looks like you haven't read that paper you're holding little girl..." i spoke, wasn't going to speak for long though...

A huge explosion pushed away my attacker, the huge hammer along with the purple armoured thing that held it.

My sleeves were burning, revealing my arms covered in glowing lines that were going hotter and brighter to the edge of my shoulder. I stood still, facing the little girl whom i couldn't fully see through the smoke i caused with my attack.

"You should've known... i'm a son of Malik!"